I’m certain he’d be fine with you adapting the Glory as your favorite Australian football team, too.

Matzelinho interview in 11 Freunde

11 Freunde is an excellent football magazine. Highly recommend reading it if you can read German and you can find it. Otherwise, follow them on Facebook. You’ll at least see some fun pictures and videos.

They posted an interview with Matthias Lehmann Friday, which gives some insight into the personality that went from questionable midfield presence to rock-solid pivot presence and utterly likeable dude who’s made his way through several traditional clubs in his career (Aachen, St. Pauli, Eintracht Frankfurt, 1860 München), which he hopes to end right where he is right now.

On whether his largely successful terms with traditional clubs is due to his being “simply a ‘cult’ player” . . .

I suspect that the fans find my game and attitude appealing, how I always commit myself fully and give everything I have until the final minute. I simply always want to work earnestly. Nothing is below me. I’ll run great distances and do things that are not always easy and also can hurt. When I stand on the pitch, I want to win every battle, even though that, of course, isn’t achievable. Lying about and complaining about every little thing is not for me.

On the differences between clubs like the Effzeh and Pauli . . .

Ultimately, the differences are not great. Certainly there are differences, but more like nuances. I believe everyone knows Pauli – they stand for rebelliousness and doing your own thing . . . In Köln, it’s different. Here, the entire city is football crazy. If the FC has won, everyone is happy and you can see it on the faces around the city. If the FC has lost, the mood is depressed. In Hamburg, there’s also the HSV, so Pauli’s matches do not determine the state of mind of the entire city.

On plans for the late stages of his career . . .

Köln could be the end station. I am very comfortable here. It is perfect here. Right now, I can say that I have experienced enough.

Future Effzeh fanatic in the making

@fckoeln_en just visited Cologne and love how passionate you are about your football team!

Kess auctions signed Effzeh gear for school fund-raising

Thomas Kessler has put together some auctions on Germany’s Ebay site through which he hopes to help raise money toward the construction of a new playground for his old primary school. Among the goods, there are match-worn shoes from Matthias Lehmann, Anthony Ujah, and Jonas Hector (a.k.a. German national player Jonas Hector).

By all appearances, the auctions are set to have the goods sent only within Germany, though you might be able to convince Kess to make an exception for the right bid.

A take from the Schalke perspective

Andreas Gilles writes a Schalke blog called “Flankengott ausm Kohlenpott” and posted about his club’s mid-week fortunes while looking forward to Saturday.

Gilles “outs” himself as a fan of Peter Stöger, referring to him as a “tactics fox” and praising him for having brought a sense of peace to a club well known for a chaotic atmosphere.

He also mentions Kevin Wimmer as a potential purchase target for Horst Heldt, noting that Wimmer is gaining notice as a top defender and drawing increasingly more attention from other suitors. The idea from Gelsenkirchen is that bolstering the roster to show they are serious about pursuing an actual championship is a component to convincing Klaas-Jan Huntelaar to stay with the club. The forward’s current deal ends this summer, and Schalke is naturally keen to keep their top goal-scoring threat, but while “the Hunter” continually says he’s comfortable at Schalke, he also would like to win titles.

Gilles figures that making a move now for Wimmer would send the right signal to Huntelaar and also be early enough to save some money as the Austrian’s value is sure to continue to increase.

Here’s the thing, though: Wimmer’s contract runs into 2019. I think you could probably say he’s already showing that he’s a bargain. His current value may indeed the 3 million Euro Gilles notes, but with bigger clubs already sniffing around and with the years left on his deal, the time for getting a bargain in a transfer is LOOOONG gone, hoss!

Anyhow, despite Gilles’ admiration for Stöger and Wimmer, the author figures the favored Schalke “should leave the field as the winner due to their individual class.

Even if the next eight days go poorly . . .

Yep. English week means the next eight days sees our club contesting matches at Schalke and Wolfsburg with a home visit from (potentially desperate) Mainz sandwiched between them . . . could the Effzeh be spending winter in a relegation spot?

Whatever happens, let’s not ruin Christmas and New Year’s by worrying too much about it with 18 matches left to decide the matter.